In Germany, the price you see listed includes the 19% tax.  There are times when we don’t have to pay the tax and so, for big ticket items, we try to figure what the price would be without sales tax.

Jon’s method was to multiply the total price (T) by.19 and then subtract it to get the pre-taxed price (x).

T -.19T=x  or simplified, .81T=x

This is NOT the way to do it.

Why?  Because the 19% tax is figured from the pre-taxed/original price (x).  So, the right way to do it is…

x+.19x=T  or simplified, x=T/1.19

Confused?  Let’s look at an example.  Let’s say we want to buy a sofa.  The price tag says 430 euro.  So, T=430.  We don’t have to pay tax and want to know how much the pre-taxed pirce (x) is.

Jon’s way:                                           My way:

.81T=x                                                x=T/1.19 

.81(430)=x                                        x=(430)/1.19  

348.30=x                                           x=361.34 

As you can see, Jon’s way will give you a nasty surprise at the checkout.  You’ll end up paying more than you were counting on.

Finally, my five years of calculus and year-and-a-half tutoring high school algebra can be put to good, practical use. 

We’re not so sure about Willy.  Perhaps in an effort to bring back the cold weather, he climbed into the fridge.  Yes, he squirmed out of my arms and into a shelf in the refrigerator.   

As we’ve said many tiimes before, Willy’s strange.

Check out the pictures…   http://pictures.aol.com/galleries/goldmara

Germany doesn’t do city sponsored fireworks at midnight, everyone just does their own.  And I do mean everyone.  And not just little one either.  The entire sky, in every direction, was flashing with gold, green and red bursts of light.  There were a few tense moments were we actually wondered if we were being bombed.  And then we saw our neighbors joining in the commotion.

Yes, it was surreal. 

We bought a new pre-lit tree for the European voltage. Little did we know that the lights would have seven cords to plug in. We had to buy two power strips just to get them all plugged in. But it’s a nice tree and it was fun shop the area Christmas markets for new ornaments.

It all culminates just before Lent with a huge party.  Think Mardi Gras in Europe minus the spring break kids.  And from what I understand, an effigy of the witch is burned at the end.  Ah, those good ol’ Catholic towns.

Anyway, some shots from the parade…

The procession begins.

The Council or Mayors or other such men in positions of authority.  The Grand Master gave a little speech in the town square at the end of the parade before the box was opened.  From the little bit I could understand, he was poking fun at people from the surrounding towns.

The young witch is released. The funny part is that after the ceremony, the witch took of her mask and it was a boy clearly unhappy about being in a dress. We figured one of the men on the float must have been his dad.

He’s played with the packing paper.  And then when I finally had it neatly folded and stacked, he decided it was a good place to hunker down and wait for Bishop to walk by so he could launch a surprise attack and scatter paper all over the place.

He’s also having fun jumping in and out of empty boxes. 

What can I say? Willy’s just easily amused.

OK, so the sign really said “reduziert, raus damit”.  But I didn’t need my German dictionary to get the gist of this one.

Jon quickly gave me the ”official”translation: Price reduced, must go!  To me, though, it will always be “I’m on sale, damn it!”